


blood for poppies

by dustysadderdaze



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Assassins & Hitmen, Alternate Universe - Royalty, Author's Favorite, Light Angst, M/M, Mentioned violence, Sexual Content, flowers as weapons, mentioned hyuckil, mentioned tenil
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-10
Updated: 2021-01-10
Packaged: 2021-03-14 23:28:51
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,307
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28678923
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dustysadderdaze/pseuds/dustysadderdaze
Summary: Ten's one of the most infamous assassins known to man. What happens when he can't carry out an assignment?
Relationships: Lee Taeyong/Chittaphon Leechaiyapornkul | Ten
Comments: 2
Kudos: 43
Collections: Coup D'etat Crownfest





	blood for poppies

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! This fic was originally going to be posted for crownfest but... well, we all saw what went down. I still wanted my fic to be posted. I hope you enjoy! Fic inspo from Blood for Poppies by Garbage.

“The boss wants to see you,” Kun peeked his head into the bathroom, eyes falling on Ten shimmying down the sexy, torn fishnets he’d worn to his last assignment. Ten met his eyes in the mirror, eyes tired, makeup slightly smudged around the edges of his mouth, and his eyes.

Ten sighed inaudibly, hoisting the lingerie back up his legs quickly. No point in getting changed and ready to go home when the boss wanted to see him...that meant another assignment. “I’ll be right there…keep him occupied while I wash up.”

Kun nodded, leaving a water bottle for him as he left. Ten was grateful for Kun. Helpful, understanding, sympathetic Kun. Ten didn’t understand why he was in this line of business- he didn’t necessarily look like he had the stomach for it, but Ten respected him nonetheless. He always came back from assignments calm and steady.

Ten adored his boss immensely. Really, he did. Moon Taeil was one of the best of the best- and he praised Ten's talent to no end. He had faith in Ten, and Ten had faith in Taeil. It was never romantic between them, but Ten still playfully flirted anyway.

Taeil's assistant(secretary, Ten would snidely tease him), Lee Donghyuck, was perched on the edge of his desk, peering through the round glasses he was almost never seen wearing. He looked up from the papers and smiled at Ten sweetly. "I'll be back," he murmured to Taeil, pressing a chaste kiss to Taeil's cheek before sliding off of the desk, slipping out quietly.

Taeil stared after him for a moment or two before Ten cleared his throat, raising an eyebrow, "got another one for me, boss?"

"I do...it's a good one, different from what you're used to. But I know you can handle it." He slid the file Donghyuck had left behind across the desk to Ten.

Ten felt his heart plummet into his stomach, exploding into tiny glass shards. 

“Is there a problem, Yongqin?” Taeil crossed his leg over his knee, cocking his head to the side. Internally, Ten flinched at the use of his legal name. There was a reason he went by Ten. Or different aliases. 

“Not at all, boss,” he smiled sweetly, taking the case file off his desk before nodding at the older man, blowing him a kiss, and heading out before he could add anything else. 

His next target's face was burned into his mind. How could he NOT recognize him? The last time he’d seen him...Taeyong was crying. He was so lovely when he cried. They’d fucked one last time, and Ten promised he’d never see him again. And Taeyong’s life would go on, Ten told him. His life would go on as the beloved crown prince, because that’s how it was supposed to be. Ten could fool himself into thinking Taeyong would forget about him. But he knew he couldn’t.

Ten sat with his knees pulled up to his chest, in the center of his poppies. Yes, poppies. The extraordinarily toxic flower that lured you in. His first love, Lee Taeyong, had told him he resembled a poppy. Elegant, dainty, and deadly. Even though they’d long split, he still grew the beautiful plants, not fearing their poisonous properties. He wasn’t even dressed, just letting his bare skin soak in the moonlight shining through the window. The tiniest pair of lacy boy shorts hung low on his delicate hips, revealing the outline of a tattoo he’d gotten….well, after he and Taeyong had ended things. A poppy. He missed him...probably more than he was willing to accept.

Ten laid flat on his back, thinking about his job, thinking about how he was one of the most renowned assassins. How he’d never fucked up one of his jobs. How he’d never turned away from an assignment. Poppies were sacred to Ten. That much was obvious. And that's why he used them to complete some of his assignments. He'd sprinkle some of their seeds into his "dates" food or water, smiling sweetly at them. After that, it wouldn't be long until he was kissing their forehead and shutting their eyelids. He was all too good at getting into people’s beds, his victims falling easily for his sweet, charming smiles. But the joke was on them.

All of his victims were of the same variety. Drug bosses that got hits put on them. People that had committed heinous crimes. If he hated what they’d done enough, he’d make it extraordinarily painful for them, burying knives in their guts. But most of the time, it was painless due to the poppy seeds.

Ten hoisted himself over the window sill of the expansive estate, silent as a cat. He only had one weapon on him- unusual for his assignments. He usually had three. But he had no intentions of...he couldn’t even finish the thought. It’d been all too easy to sneak onto the property late at night, the pitch-black shrouding his presence.

Taeyong was sitting at the expensive cherry wood traditional vanity, legs crossed underneath him. He had a makeup wipe scrunched in his hand- that was, until, out of the corner of his eye, he saw Ten just sitting there, quietly watching him. “Ten?” it wasn’t audible. 

Ten slipped off of his perch, standing there awkwardly. He didn't let his feelings show, however. Lips barely moving, he whispered, "I missed you, Yongie," Well, that was one way to put it. Not even a "how are you?" 

Taeyong blinked slowly at him, eyes softening. “Oh, Tennie… I missed you, too,” his eyes looked slightly damp. Ten couldn’t blame him.

Ten walked forward as quietly as he could, the soft carpet softening the treading of his boots, kneeling by Taeyong’s side, taking the makeup wipe from him. “You’re still as radiant as you were the last time I saw you,” 

Taeyong was stock still, closing his eyes as Ten washed his face. “Can I kiss you?” Ten asked softly, breaking one of his most strict rules. Taeyong stared at him in shock before he nodded, once. 

Ten hesitantly leaned forward, brushing his lips against his. God, Taeyong was fucking beautiful. Elegant, fragile, brilliant in the most wonderful ways. Ten threaded his fingers through Taeyong’s honey blonde hair, pulling his lips away from his to drag them along Taeyong’s jawline, moving slowly down his mouth.

Gracing his neck was a diamond-studded choker that looked like it cost more than...well, most people’s rent. “Jesus, you’re fucking spoiled,” he teased, nipping at his skin playfully.

“Yeah, and you fuelled that,” he retorted, grinning.

Ten rolled his eyes before his fingers deftly and carefully removed the jewelry, continuing his path of hickies. Should he be mindful of the fact that Taeyong would once again be back in the public eye tomorrow? Yeah, but he couldn’t care less right now.

“Get undressed for me, yeah?” he murmured against his skin before detaching himself, watching his ex-lover. Taeyong had only been wearing an overlarge button-down, so it didn’t take long before he was crawling back over Ten’s body. God, he was so good and obedient. Ten took his time kissing all the way down Taeyong’s body, taking extra care to press butterflies against his inner thighs, relishing the sweet shudder that rolled off of him.

Ten held Taeyong's hips as carefully as he could, as if he was a flower that would crumble if you weren't careful. Taeyong lifted his hips, up and down, languidly, head tipped back, eyes squeezed shut.

Taeyong, the bendy little thing that he was, leaned down to press kisses on his face; his forehead, his nose, his temples, both cheeks. His lips.

"I missed you so much," he whispered in his ear, nipping at his jawline, like Ten had done earlier. 

Ten's eyes crinkled, softening. "Keep talking like that and we're stopping," he chuckled and Taeyong jackrabbitted his hips faster, refusing to accept that.

Ten's knife was waiting for him in his pants pockets. He needed to get this done and over with. He'd never failed an assignment before. Ever. But Taeyong was so radiant, he couldn’t bring himself to do it. Later, he told himself. Before he left.

It didn’t take long before Taeyong had finished, body crumbling on top of Ten’s, sleepy. “Thank you,” Ten almost didn’t catch it, but he smiled anyway.

“Let’s get you cleaned up, yeah?” he pressed a kiss to Taeyong’s temple.

Ten helped Taeyong into the massive bathtub, pulling the fluffy towels out from underneath his bathroom counter, watching him silently.

Taeyong looked at him with the most drowsy eyes, but cracked a smile anyway. “You’re not gonna join me?” he teased light-heartedly.

Ten rolled his eyes, “Whatever you want, prince,”

Body relaxing the minute he got into the hot water, he pulled Taeyong against him. They were quiet as they soaked in the warm water, Taeyong’s back resting against Ten’s chest. “You’re here because of your job, aren’t you, Tennie?” Taeyong whispered.

Ten could feel his heartbeat slow, and nothing else mattered in the world. Everything felt like it was breaking apart. “Yeah.”

Taeyong didn’t even move. But he could feel his chest heave in a heavy sigh. “I knew it from the moment you dropped in unannounced. You may be hard to read to everyone else, but I know you.”

His heart was breaking. And he knew he couldn’t do it. No matter how much he loved his job, no matter how much he hated the royal family. He couldn’t. Taeyong was the only one he’d ever loved.

Ten wrapped both of his arms around Taeyong’s waist, resting his chin on his shoulder. “I can’t...I can’t do it,” and for the first time in his life, his voice cracked with uncertainty. 

Taeyong rested his hands on top of Ten’s, closing his eyes. “You don’t have to sacrifice your job for me just because of an old relationship from the past."

Ten refused to let go of him, squeezing his eyes shut, as if he could block out his reality that way. "'m not gonna, Yongie." He paused, taking a few steadying breaths. Taeyong was the only person that made him feel...human. Made him feel...well, anything. 

"How is this going to end?" Ten could hear the pain in his voice.

"It's not. I'm an excellent liar, I'll figure something out." He sighed. Taeyong didn’t push it further than that, letting the silence envelope the two of them.

Before long, Ten was drying him off and carrying him to bed.

He was about to slip out of the window before he heard the tiniest, "could you please stay?"

Taeyong was looking at him with the saddest eyes when he looked over his shoulder. There were plenty of times, when they'd been together, that Ten had to sneak away in the late hours of the night, telling Taeyong he was sorry. Sorry that he couldn't hold him while he drifted to sleep. Sorry that he wouldn't be there when Taeyong inevitably woke up from a night terror. But tonight….tonight was different. 

"Yeah. I can stay, Yongie." Unzipping the leather outfit he'd put back on, he climbed into Taeyong's massive bed with him, pulling him close. He was breaking all the rules, just for this pretty boy. As he’d always done, since the moment he realized he was falling head over heels for him. His most important rule was to never enter anything serious while he was at his current job. There was barely time for one-night stands, there was definitely no time for anything more than that. It didn’t help that Taeyong was… well, Taeyong. What wasn’t good about Taeyong? He was sweet, he was kind, he was the feeling you get when adrenaline starts rushing in and you feel deliriously good. The way they had met… god, was it disgustingly cliche. 

Ten had been on his way to the bar with some of his friends from work, security guards flanking Taeyong's side protectively, and the two of them had run headfirst into each other. Ten quickly helped him up, ignoring the barking orders from the guard dogs, instantly falling for the pretty plump lips, the puppy eyes, the way he looked like a flower. Things had snowballed after that, before Ten realized it. He understood why everyone adored him so. Taeyong invited him out on occasions when there wouldn’t be an entire guard following him.

Taeyong’s parents, the royal he and she, despised Ten. Of course they did, why wouldn’t they? Ten knew he looked dangerous, especially with the clothes he wore. They barely tolerated him being at the family house, and would simply not speak to him. But Taeyong and Ten didn’t care. They’d stay up into the early hours of the morning until Ten had to leave, always escaping through Taeyong’s bedroom window.

Ten thought about all this while Taeyong slept soundly, curled up against him. He missed those days. 

In the morning, he'd be gone, leaving a kiss on his pillow and a post-it note telling him he'd be back around, and if he needed him, he knew how to get a hold of him.

Ten walked into work with his head held high, not betraying any sort of emotion he was feeling. His mind looked like a natural disaster, however. He couldn't stop thinking about the way Taeyong still kissed him perfectly, like he was born to do so. 

Ten dropped the case file on Taeil's desk, face stone cold.

Taeil looked up from the paperwork he'd been working on. "You're back rather quickly, Yongqin."

"Yes, sir."

"And you finished your job? Efficiently?"

Ten was a trained assassin, yes, but he'd also trained to keep his emotions in check. To lie perfectly. To do whatever it took.

"Yes, sir."

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! If you have any questions or comments, let me know! If you wanna say hi, my twitter @ is cupidtennie. Take care.


End file.
